Easter Bunny's Guardianship
by Magmashift
Summary: A short story of how the Easter Bunny came to be. It's a bit sad, but I needed a reason for him to be so serious all the time. I'm a bit sad that it didn't go a bit longer, but I knew it'd get boring. Technically it has Manny, so don't nag at me. Manny was the one who named him. Mother Nature is someone I made up.


**Long ago, there lived a handsome knight named Edmund Aster Burmund. He was the most fearless knight in his queen's army. His jet black hair hung in a long ponytail and a boomerang sat on his back. Every child in the kingdom looked up to him. Especially his favorite; his young daughter Cynthia. She enjoyed spending every moment with her father. Especially when he told her fairy tales before she went to bed. Her favorite was about the Easter Bunny. Every year, this mysterious animal would leave colorful egg-shaped containers filled with all kinds of candy at the doorsteps of the children's houses in the kingdom. No one ever saw him, but if a child was lucky enough, they would get to meet him just once in their life.**

**Edmund always seemed to know how to make not just his child laugh, but every child he came across. But nothing could ever replace the laughter of his dear Cynthia. "Daddy, how did you know about the Easter Bunny?" She asked.**

**He simply laughed and joked, "I _am _him. Why else would Easter be my first initial and middle name?" His daughter giggled.**

**"You're silly. You said that it was because your name is funny." Edmund ruffled his daughter's hair.**

**"You're a smart girl, just like your mother. Speaking of which, I've got a present for you and you can't tell her about it. It's our little secret." She nodded quickly. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a small egg-shaped container. "I found this by our doorstep today. I think it belongs to a pretty little girl." **

**"But, the Easter Bunny hasn't come yet! How-"**

**"Shh, don't let your mom hear you." She laughed and took the container. When she opened it, no candy was inside, but a golden locket. "Looks like the Easter Bunny has you on a very special list."**

**Cynthia looked up at him, confused. "What list?"**

**"A list of favorite children. I don't blame him." She laughed and hugged her father. "Now, your mother doesn't like me getting stuff from the Easter Bunny so early, so try to keep it our little secret."**

**"I thought he dropped stuff off at our door."**

**"Well, normally, but he wanted this to be seen by you so early so other children wouldn't get so jealous." His daughter leapt into her bed and smiled from under her blankets. **

**"Daddy, can you tell me the story about the Easter Bunny again?" He let out a small laugh. "Please?"**

**"Alright, alright. One more Bunny story and then it's off to bed." Edmund sat down and sighed. "This is the tale of the Easter Bunny. One day, a young rabbit named…"**

**"Easter." Cynthia answered.**

**"Was walking along his bunny trail-"**

**"Daddy, you know bunnies can't walk. They hop."**

**"Right, right. Was _hopping _along his bunny trail when he noticed that the baby bunnies were a bit upset. When he asked what was wrong, they answered…"**

**"The sweets shop is open and we haven't got any coins to buy them." She was already yawning.**

**"No worries, he said, I'll just buy you each a chocolate with the money I have. Easter _hopped _inside the sweets shop and bought each good little bunny there one chocolate. And do you know what he thought that very moment when he saw the smiles on the children's faces?"**

**"That he wanted to spread happiness to baby bunnies across the world."**

**"Of course, he wanted them to work for it, so on that very day each year, he would hide little egg-shaped containers filled with candy around the little bunny villages around the world and every time a baby bunny found an egg filled with candy, the look on their faces always warmed his heart. To this day, the Easter Bunny-"**

**"Still spreads joy to the children all around the world and will keep doing so until the end of time." With a final yawn, Cynthia fell asleep. Edmund kissed his daughter's forehead and walked out of the room. **

**"Good night, my little bunny." **

**The next day, Edmund watched as Cynthia attacked a practice dummy with her wooden sword. His wife, Roxanne stood by him. "You know you've got hunting to do today." She reminded him. **

**"I'll get to it in a moment. Right now I'm enjoyin' this." The spunky wife rolled her eyes and handed him his boomerang and dagger.**

**"When you're not being a knight or playing Easter Bunny, you're hunting. Go along now. I promise she'll be here when you get back." He smiled at his wife and kissed her cheek.**

**"Anything for you, darling. Alright, Cynthia, I'm goin' huntin'. Behave for your mother while I'm gone." She nodded and continued hitting the dummy. He hopped on his horse and rode off. Soon, he arrived at the forest. "Stay here." He patted the horse's back and entered the forest. It wasn't long before he caught sight of a deer. With a single bound, he jumped at the deer with his dagger at hand. Unfortunately, the deer had seen him and run off. "Drat." A twig snapped behind him. "Who's there?" Holding his dagger in a fighting position, he swiftly turned around. No one was there. He caught sight of someone moving in the distance. Something caused him to run after them. Whoever it was.**

**Chasing the person led him to a dead end. Looking around, he couldn't find anyone. "He saw me. I can't believe he saw me." A small voice said, trying to whisper. Sighing, Edmund put the dagger away.**

**"I ain't gonna hurt you. I didn't mean to scare you, mate." A small bunny hopped from a bush and looked up at him. "Eh, maybe it was just my imagination. All this drama over a rabbit." He turned to go back when suddenly he fell into a giant hole. Gripping on to the sides of the hole, he tried to pull himself up. No use, the dirt wasn't solid enough for him to support himself. When he hit the ground, the rest of the dirt fell on top of him. **

**He woke up feeling dizzy and confused. Where was he? What had happened? How long had he been…asleep? And most importantly, who was he? His eyes opened to see a bright-eyed girl standing above him with a big smile on her face.**

**"Morning, sleepy head. I thought you'd _never _wake up. I started to think that you were the wrong one."**

**"Uh, what? What happened? Where am I? Who are you?" The girl looked up at the sky.**

**"Hmm, you fell into a rabbit hole, you're in your home, and I'm Mother Nature."**

**"Mother Who?"**

**"I don't blame you for not knowing me. Most Guardians don't know who I am."**

**"Guardians? What the heck are you talkin' about?"**

**"Well, it'll take a long time to explain, so long story short, welcome back from the dead!"**

**"Dead? You mean I was dead?"**

**"Yep. Well, not really dead-dead, but you were put on a reservation to be reawakened as a new spirit, duh." She giggled as if it were something she found funny. He didn't see the humor.**

**"How long have I been 'dead'?"**

**"About five years."**

**"Five years? Why did you resurrect me _now_? Why not five years ago when I was freshly dead? Shouldn't I be decayed or something?"**

**"Not when you're the Easter Bunny." Easter Bunny? This girl wasn't making any sense. "Your name is E. Aster Bunnymund, see?" She handed him his boomerang.**

**"What do you mean Easter Bunny? Who are you again?" **

**"You're the big furry guy who delivers eggs to children all around the world. And I'm Mother Nature, duh."**

**"And why should I believe you?"**

**"Uh, you're a giant rabbit." **

**"Huh?" He looked at his reflection in a pond. She was right. Big, floppy ears, whiskers, fur, the works. **

**"You just have to keep the children believing in you." Before he could say another word, she started helping him to his feet and smiled up at him. "You start today and do this on the same day every year." **

**"Why are you smiling?"**

**"Because if I don't smile, bad weather comes and we don't want bad weather on your first day, do we? Now, don't keep Cynthia waiting?"**

**"Who?" She froze in her place.**

**"Uh, nothing. Hehe. Gotta go!" She ran off and disappeared through the bushes. Bunnymund looked at a pile of eggs. He guessed that she was nice enough to drop the eggs off for him. She was insane. How was he supposed to deliver all of those eggs? Her head popped up from a tree. "Oh, and one more thing, if little kids believe in you, they'll see you, don't get caught!" He raised an eyebrow as she disappeared once more. Deciding he had nothing better to do, he started getting the eggs together and hid behind the bush that separated the forest from the village. The sun was just going down. A noise caught his attention. **

**"Cynthia, it's time to come inside. You don't want the Easter Bunny to see you while he's delivering eggs, do you? It'll ruin the surprise." A woman said. A teenage girl sighed angrily and threw a sword to the ground.**

**"You know I don't believe in him, Mom. No one has for five years. No one in this house, at least. He was just a fairy tale that Dad liked to talk about." She said, crossing her arms. Bunnymund sighed. If she didn't believe in him, then she couldn't see him, right? What was it that Mother Nature said? _You have to keep children believing in you_. Bunnymund quietly placed a few eggs in the grass by the old practice dummy. "Huh?" She crouched down and looked at them. "Easter Eggs." Quickly she stood up. "Dad?" No answer. Shaking her head, she threw the eggs to the ground. "Probably just Mom trying to get me to believe those fairy tales." Mother Nature stood by him in the bushes.**

**"You know that girl?" **

**He was silent for a minute before shaking his head. "Never seen her in my life."**

**"Well, you've got more eggs to deliver." He nodded and hopped away, hiding the rest of the eggs. Mother Nature watched him from a distance, the only person who knew who he really was. She knew that he had known that girl at one time. Matter of fact, she knew who that girl was. There was a small aching in her heart. She knew that the Easter Bunny would live for eternity, never remembering who he used to be or knowing that he was living on to be the very thing that his daughter would never believe in again.**


End file.
